Plant-protector.



A. G. MUADIE.

PLANT PROTECTOR.

APPLIOATION FILED 1411.11.16, 1911.

Patented May 30, 1911.

17m/enfer Alexa/262er MAcZie,

ALEXANDER G. MCADIE, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

PLANT-PROTECTOR.

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Application tiled March 16, 1911.

Patented May 3f), Mll.

serial No. 614,944.

(DEDICATED T0 THE PUBLIC.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that ALEXANDER G. MC- ADm, an employee of the Department ofAgriculture of the United States of America, residing at San Francisco,California, (whose post-oflice address is San Francisco, California,)have invented a new and useful improvement in Plant-Protectors.

This application is made under the act of March 3, 1883, chapter 148 (22Stat., 625), and the invention herein described and claimed may be usedby the Government of the United States or any of its oiicers oremployees in the prosecution of work for the Government, or any personin the United States, without payment to me of any royalty thereon.

My invention relates to a cover for the protection of trees, bushes',vines, flowers, and other plants against injury from frost andtemperatures as low or lower than freezing.

The obj ect of my invention is to provide a cheap and inexpensivedevice, Vof lightweight material, yet having sufficient strength andrigidity to withstand out-ofdoor exposure and weathering. E.

My invention is designed for interference with the radiation of longheat waves from the ground, which is accomplished by the use of a coveror screen placed above the top of the tree or resting thereon, or on thetop of the bush, vine, or plant needing the protection described.

Tn the construction of my device, T employ a suitable paper, reinforcedpaper, asphalted paper or cloth, or burlapped tarred paper, water proofand weather proof, and of such textile strength as to best accomplishthe desired end. The material may be made up in double sheets, with anintervening air space between, where a high degree of protection isnecessary; but for ordinary use a single layer will suffice. The coverconsists of a square or rectangular sheet of such paper tacked,cemented, or otherwise rmly fastened to a wooden frame of smaller area.The frame is made more rigid by corner cross-braces. There is alsosecured to the frame an equal area of wire netting or screen, preferablyon the under side of the frame, that is to say, the side which will benearer the ground when in use. The entire frame forms a central area orcrown intended to rest upon and be supported by the top of the objectprotected. From the central area on each side extendflaps of the clothpaper going beyond the sides of the frame. The material is so cut alongdiagonals that the sides make flaps and to some degree overlap. Near thelower end of each flap an eyelet is inserted. A lacing string with aknotted end passes through each eyelet, so that it is an easy matter tobring each flap together tightly. The free ends of the strings can bemade fast to the trunk of the tree protected or to any other suitablepoint.

The nature, characteristic features and scope of my invention will bemore readily understood from the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof,wherein- Figure l, is a perspective view of my invention. Fig. 2, is aview from the underside, and Fig. 3, is a detailed view in section.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the exterior cloth side of thecover. This outer cover may be made of burlap or fine cheese cloth, orof any suitable waterproof and weatherproof material.

B, indicates the under or interior paper side of the cover. This paperportion of the cover may be any color, but a black surface ispreferable, as, other things being equal, such color is known as abetter absorber of heat. The exterior cloth, A, and interiorpaper, B,are made into one piece by being cemented together by means of sometarry or resinous paint or by the use of any other adhesive substance.

D, indicates the lines along which the cover or layer is cut. These areat diagonals and permit the flaps to overlap. Located at the lowercorner end of each flap is an eyelet, E, through which lacing strings,H, having knotted ends, pass, in order to hold the flaps in positionwhen the plant protector is in operation.

F, represents the wooden frame which constitutes the center or crown ofthe cover, and attached thereto, at either its top or bottom, is ascreen of wire netting. This wooden frame, F, and screen or wirenetting, Gr, is employed for the purpose of giving the necessarystiffness to the cover and the desired resistance to the upward push ofthe branches and twigs of the tree or plant protected. I do not confinemyself, however, to the use of the wooden frame and the screen foraccomplishing this purpose, but any desirible board may be used forattaining this en In practicing my invention, I cement the exteriorcloth, A, to the interior paper cover, B, by means of an adhesivesubstance, there` by constituting one cover or layer. rIhis cover may beof any dimension and made of any suitable weatherproof and waterproofmaterial. Then I secure the central portion of said cover or layer to awooden frame, F, having a screen, G, attached at either its top orbottom end, and then cut diagonally the material of the cover suspendedfrom thewooden frame, F, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, thus making aplurality of flaps. At the corners of the bottom end of the flaps Iplace eyelets, E, and pass therethrough, lacing strings, II. l/Vhen thedevice is so constructed it is then only necessary to cover the foliageof the tree or plant to be protected by placing the central frame overits top and permitting the flaps to spread over the foliage and thenretaining such parts in place by tying the lacing strings to the trunkor base of the tree or plant so covered, or to some other suitablefastening.

This device should be used in the manner described, before sunset, andshould not be removed from the object protected until after sunrise. Thepurpose of using the cover at this period is to retain in place whateverwarm air may have risen by convection from the ground to theneighborhood of the treetop or object covered. It prevents loss of heatduring the night hours and also serves as a screen and non-conductor toprevent a too rapid warming up use, and the lacing strings may also beused to tie the cover into a package not exceeding in space the space ofthe crown or central frame. In practice, twenty-four covers, with atotal spread of over nineteen hundred feet, can be packed in a space oneyard wide and one yard high. The device is portable, as it can be easilyfolded and carried about on account of its light weight.

I-Iaving thus described my invention, I claim:

A plant protector, consisting of a dual cover of paper and suitablewaterproof material, cemented together by an adhesive substance, saidcover centrally secured to a frame and over-lapping the same, aplurality of flaps cut diagonally in said overlapping portion, eyeletsin said flaps a wire nettingy attached to said frame, and means forsecuring said plant protector in a fixed position for retaining the warmair arising from the ground, substantially as specilied.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

ALEXANDER Gr. MCADIE. l/Vitnesses:

WILLIAM J. REED, BERNARD R. LAsKoWsirr.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washingtom D. C.

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